A U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow did not compel the Soviet Union to leave Afghanistan. The retaliatory boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles did not bring capitalism to its knees.

History suggests that the rising chorus to condemn China's tyrannical ways by boycotting the 2008 Games through varying degrees of protest - from President Bush skipping the opening ceremonies to full-out national withdrawals - will not accomplish anything constructive. Yes, the world has serious issues with Beijing's callousness toward Tibet, Darfur, a free press and the concept that its own people should have unfiltered access to the World Wide Web. But the protests of the Olympic Games are misdirected.

"It still haunts me," said Butch Curry, a weightlifter who now lives in San Francisco. He started lifting at age 13. At 27, he was primed to compete with the world's elite.

"June 1, 1980, was the best and worst day of my life," he said. Curry qualified for the Olympics at the trials in Philadelphia. Yet the impending boycott left him with a hollow achievement. Injuries would deny him another shot in 1984.

Mike Bruner, a swimmer who won two gold medals at age 20 in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, graduated from Stanford in June 1979. He thought his competitive days were behind him. Then, at the invitation of a longtime coach, he started training again, clocking 50 to 60 miles in the water - and he soon returned to world-class level. His new bride waited tables 50 hours a week so he could work out full time. In February 1980, the Soviet Union defied Carter's deadline to withdraw from Afghanistan, and the boycott was in the works.

"I went to the pool after that, and I couldn't do anything," Bruner said. "I was flopping around; I was just a total basket case."

Bruner, who grew up in Stockton, bounced back to become American Swimmer of the Year - but the boycott kept him from Moscow. He was "really sad" for his U.S. teammates who never had a shot at the Olympic experience. Back then, when the International Olympic Committee still clung to the illusion of amateur purity, athletes did not have an opportunity to sustain a living from endorsements and appearances.

Marilyn King, a pentathlete, participated in the Olympics during the depths of the Cold War in 1972 and 1976. She has been selected as a torchbearer for Wednesday's procession through San Francisco, which is expected to draw protests.

King, an Oakland resident who describes herself as "a peace activist," recalls her Olympic experience as a time in which international tensions were submerged, however fleetingly, for a common purpose. She will never forget the U.S. sprinters reaching out to Russian gold medalist Valeri Borzov "while they were still slowing down" in 1972. Or the transnational smiles in the meal lines at the Olympic Village. Or the way the cacophony of noise and good feeling at the discotheques transcended any language, cultural or political barriers.

King also remembers the Olympics she did not attend. She finished second in the U.S. trials in 1980, after a valiant recovery from a spinal injury suffered in a car accident. She still thinks about the many athletes, especially from poorer countries, who sacrificed so much for an Olympics that would be tarnished by a standoff of superpowers.

"How would you like your wedding to be boycotted or picketed or that type of stuff ... for something that had absolutely nothing to do with you?" King asked.

Americans who might be tempted to get sanctimonious about China's travesties - serious as they are - should consider: What if the 2008 Olympics were in New York or Los Angeles or San Francisco? Surely there would be calls for boycotts, whether for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, its sanctioning of torture and rendition, or its excessive contribution to global warming. There will always be an argument to stop the Games - and a more compelling one to carry on, regardless of the host nation's imperfections.

"I absolutely think of the Games as a virtual bridge for the planet," said Kim Carlisle, who, as a 19-year-old Stanford freshman, recorded the world's fourth-fastest 100-meter backstroke in the summer of 1980. "They're unique. They're like a global campfire the world gathers around for two weeks every four years."

If there is one thing more punitive for a repressive regime than an Olympic boycott, it is the Olympic spotlight. Adolf Hitler's twisted vision of Aryan superiority was shattered by the four-gold performance of Jesse Owens, an African American, in the 1936 Berlin Games. China's delusions about the Olympics delivering it to global respectability are being countered by the increased scrutiny on its society - and its human rights practices.

"The good news and bad news about hosting the games is you showcase what's good ... and you showcase what's not good," King said. "That's what's happening with China now."